Madison Awakening

When I open my eyes again, they are met by the sun. My head is pounding and I inwardly curse myself for drinking so many margaritas last night. Then I remember…

Jonathan is here.

I shoot up and immediately regret it, as my head now feels like it’s going to pop. I look around the room and Jonathan is nowhere to be found. I breathe a sigh of relief and flop back down on my back. I close my eyes and try to replay the night again.

Drinks with Ashely…see Jonathan…drunk dancing…leave…fight with Jonathan…mac and cheese…admissions….make up sex.

My body can feel the pain and pleasure of the make up sex. I’m sore in all the right places. I look over at the clock. It’s 9:40 am so I guess he must have left earlier this morning. My head is still throbbing but I will myself out of bed to go find some advil and coconut water. I throw on my blue silk robe and head into the bathroom to pee, wash my face, brush my teeth, grab two advil from the cabinet and swallow them quickly. My eyes are a bit puffy and my hair is a mess, so I grab a clip and throw it up to head to the kitchen.

As I’m walking downstairs, I hear the oven door close and I freeze. After a moment, my brain fires up and alerts me to the fact Jonathan is still here. I take a couple of deep breaths and smooth out my robe and continue my descent down the stairs. When I hit the floor, I slap a bright smile on my face and confidently walk into my kitchen.

Jonathan is shirtless in his boxer briefs at the stove stirring something in the pan. If my head wasn’t throbbing so much I may have jumped him, he looks so good. He turns when he sees me walk in and greets me with a dazzling smile.

“Good morning, Beautiful.” He says and his voice sounds like an air horn to my brain. I recoil and place my hands over my ears. Jonathan starts laughing.

“Good morning. Can we use inside voices please?” I plead and head to the fridge to grab coconut water.

“Too many margaritas, huh?” He says in much lower volume, as he starts adding cheese to whatever is in the pan. I look around my kitchen and see various items scattered about.

“Yeah. I’m just waiting for the advil to kick in. What are you making over there?” I ask inquisitively. I pop myself on to the stool and crane my neck a bit to get a peek.  Jonathan turns the burner off, walks over and gives me a sweet kiss.

“Spinach and goat cheese omelets, bacon, roasted potatoes and toast.” He announces proudly.

My mouth immediately starts to water. He moves to the coffee maker, pours two cups of coffee, and brings them over.  He then goes to the oven, takes out a tray and starts plating the food. 

“Thank you. I didn’t know I had all those things. You have certainly gotten yourself acquainted in my kitchen.” I say half teasing.

It’s the first day in my house and he’s all up in my cabinets. Not sure how I feel about it yet. But I’ll let the food make the decision for me.

“Actually, no you didn’t have it all. I had Michael grab a couple of things. But your fridge is well stocked. And cooking here is a dream.”

“You made Michael do all that? That wasn’t necessary. Was he here all night?”

“No, he went home and came back this morning. Bon appetit, Mon chere.” He says and presents a beautiful display of culinary skill. Even the bacon is crispy just the way I like it.

“Thank you so much. This is so sweet of you. I actually thought you left when I first woke up.” I take my first bite of the omelet and it’s perfect. I continue digging in.  Jonathan sits next to me and starts eating as well.

“Why did you think I left?” He says in between bites.

“I didn’t see you or your things, so I figured you had stuff to do. This is delicious by the way.”  

“Madison, I would never leave without saying goodbye. I think we agreed we were past that last night, no?” His tone isn’t as light as before and clearly this is not a rhetorical question.

I swallow the mouthful of toast and add almond milk to my coffee to think about how to frame my response. I take a sip, and look Jonathan in the eye. Now that I’m sober, I think clarifications are needed.

“Yes, we are past that. I will never try to leave like I did before. But I think we might want to clarify what we are doing exactly.” I say and then quickly put food in my mouth and wait for an answer.

Jonathan gives me a sly smirk and takes a sip of coffee.“You’re my girlfriend. I didn’t make that clear?” He says with no hesitation.  

Part of me wants to question and discuss what that means to him and what he expects. Then, talk about what that means to me, but to what end? I agreed to a new beginning, so no point in talking myself out of it. Jonathan is sexy as fuck, kind, smart, funny, an amazing cook, rich and cares about me. What’s really stopping me? I place my fork down and focus on his beautiful scruffy face.

“Well…last night was a bit of a rollercoaster. But if you want to be my boyfriend…I think that works for me.” I say and give him a kiss to seal my commitment. When I pull away he is grinning widely and my heart flutters a bit seeing him happy. It feels good that I can make him happy. I start eating my food again and give him a wink. Having him in my kitchen no longer feels intrusive. It feels…right.

“How long ago did you renovate?  Whoever you hired did quality work.”

“I finished about two months ago. My Uncle Anthony basically handled everything except the finishes. I got to pick all that stuff.”

“Your uncle is in construction?”

“Well he isn’t really my uncle, he’s my godfather. He was my dad’s partner for over twenty years in the NYPD. He has a lot of connections so he got me the bid for the job.”

“Nice. Where is your dad now?” My body stills in my seat. He’s asked about my dad before but now that he is officially my boyfriend, I know I need to expand.

“My dad died almost ten years ago.” I say flatly. I can see Jonathan’s face fall, and he reaches over, grabs my hand and pulls it to his lips and plants a kiss.

“I’m sorry baby. I didn’t mean to upset you. I noticed you mainly have pictures of only your mom up, so that’s why I asked.” He says apologetically.

But his death isn’t the reason there are no pictures of him anywhere in the house.  I can’t go there with him.

I fake a smile. “It’s fine. I appreciate your sweetness. Anyway, what’s on your agenda today?”

“I have a couple of meetings in the late afternoon. You?” He asks as he finishes the rest of his food. I have some more toast but I’m stuffed. He clears the dishes and places them in the dishwasher along with the pan and tray.  

“I have emails to answer. The ball is next week and then I get my life back.”

“What day is the ball, again?”

“Next Thursday, at the Parkman Hotel in Williamsburg.”

“So after that you’re free all summer?” He asks with a hint of mischief in his voice as he sits back at the island. I give him the side eye at all his questions.

“Essentially, yes. Why, what are you thinking?”

“I’m going to Miami next Friday, for a last walk through before the opening of my new club. It would be a four day trip. Would you want to come with me?” He says with excitement in his voice and hope in his eyes. Less than twenty four hours as a couple and my boyfriend wants to take me away.

“Sure. I think I have some miles on my Amex I can use. And…” Jonathan holds up his hand, stopping me mid sentence.

“I’m inviting you to go away with me. You are not paying for anything.” I open my mouth to respond and he stops me again. “And we don’t fly commercial. We are taking the PJ.”

“PJ?” He allows me to ask.

“Private Jet. You’ll love it.” He says and kisses me on the nose.

I sit silently digesting everything he’s said. I remind myself Jonathan is not his money but I will need to adjust to the way in which he lives. I nod, stand up and wrap my arms around his neck.  Jonathan wraps his arms around my waist, then slides his hands down to hold my ass and pulls me closer.

“Yes, I would love to come to Miami with you. Now, what time is your first meeting?” I ask innocently.

“Not till 4pm.”

“Well then, we have time…”

Reaching into my clutch from last night on the counter, I take out a condom that Ashely had put inside the night of our first date.

“Well since you love my kitchen so much, maybe we need to christen this island properly…” And I step back, pull the tie to the robe and let it fall to the floor.  Standing naked with a condom in hand, Jonathan’s hazel eyes darken and he pulls me forward, taking the condom from me.

 “Great minds think alike…”  He says and begins kissing my neck.

By the time we make it out of the shower, Jonathan is scrambling around the house to get ready for his meeting. Our kitchen sex session turned into an additional living room session and before we knew it, he had less than an hour to get downtown.  Michael brought him a change of clothes along with the groceries, to prepare for his meetings.

He is dressed in a crisp light gray suit and white shirt, hair all wild and five o’clock shadow that makes him look yummy. He’s zipping around my bedroom as I type away on my laptop answering emails. I try to focus but I can’t help but to watch my man buzz around. He finally stops moving and stands in the doorway of the room.

“I don’t want to go to this meeting.” He says with a bit of a pout on his face.

I look up from my screen like I wasn’t watching him and smile. Getting up from the bed, I walk over and wrap my arms around his waist. As Jonathan pulls me in tighter, I inhale the scent of his fresh skin.

“Hun, we can’t just have sex all day. But I wish you didn’t have to go either.”

“What are you doing later?” 

“Seeing you hopefully.”

“Good. I actually have an art fundraiser to attend at Grand Army Plaza Library.”

“They have events there? That was my home away from home when I was a kid.”

“Well apparently they do. Will you come with me?”

“Sure, I would love to!” My voice raises an octave as I geek out a bit.

“Great. I’ll come pick you up around 8 pm.”

“What is the attire?”

“Cocktail. Nothing too stuffy. Art events are always…interesting.” 

“Okay…but you do need to get out of here.” And I give him a soft kiss, which he turns into a passionate one. When he pulls away I feel a little woozy.

We walk down the stairs and in the foyer he steps into his shoes as I walk to the door. I can see Michael through the glass standing by the car patiently waiting. God bless him. 

Jonathan meets me at the door as I open it, then pulls me to him once again. I stand on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck. Eye to eye, energy swirls around us.

“I’ll call you later.”

“You better.”  

I give him a chaste kiss, then push him out the door causing him to laugh heartily. Michael also laughs at my gesture. I wave to him and he tips his hat at me while opening the door for Jonathan. Before he gets in, Jonathan looks up and waves one last time then disappears behind the dark glass. 

I close the door,lean back and try to settle into everything that has happened in the past twenty four hours.  And in all of my crazy thoughts not one of them was regret.

I’m actually happy. Like on cloud nine, rainbows and unicorn levels of happiness. I walk to the kitchen and grab my phone to call Ashely.

“Hey girl. What have you been up to?” She says cheerily.

“Girl….I have a story to tell…”